The issues covered in this blog are related to the idea of eventually closing down several of the state supported living centers. All of these are issues that should be thought about and addressed if the closure of those facilities is going to work.

People with greater needs need more support
If people are going to be transitioned from the SSLCs to the community, they may require more support. The report notes that two thirds of local authorities do not have crisis intervention teams for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), and those that do will run out of funding in 2016 unless the 1115 demonstration waiver is renewed.

The report notes that it is challenging for individuals to move from the SSLC to the community due to a lack of providers that can meet their needs. One reason for this is that reimbursement levels are so low that it creates “a disincentive to care for the medically fragile population in the community” (Sunset report, page 32).

With the above in mind, the Commission made a number of recommendations (all of which they ultimately passed):
1. Require DADS to expand crisis intervention teams to provide increased supports to people with IDD in the community.
2. Require DADS and the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), in rule, to add a reimbursement level that incentivizes providers to open small and specialized group homes to people with high medical needs.
3. Allow SSLCs to leverage their experience and knowledge and provide services to community clients for a fee

People in day habilitation facilities should be able to expect adequate care
This issue deals with day habilitation facilities, which provide services during weekday work hours. The Commission notes that day habilitation facilities are not licensed by anyone, so the quality of the care and services varies greatly from good to very poor. In addition, DADS does not require any safety or quality measures in contracts with day habilitation facilities.

The Commission made the following recommendations (all of which they ultimately passed):
1. Require DADS to develop contract provisions regarding basic safety and service requirements for day habilitation facilities (things like run background checks, conduct fire drills, etc.).
2. Require DFPS to track data on abuse, neglect, and exploitation in day habilitation facilities.
3. Track and report violations at day habilitation facilities.

In addition, the Commission will require DADS to create an advisory committee on the redesign and potential licensure of all day habilitation facilities.

Long-term care providers should provide safe and quality services

According to the report, DADS oversees over 10,000 providers serving over 1.3 million Texans. The report notes that DADS issues few sanctions for violations. In fact the report found that in 2013, DADS took enforcement actions on 225 out of 38,000 confirmed violations. This is influenced by several things including providers having the right to “correct” their violations without penalty, a lack of teeth in penalties, and an appeal backlog.

The Commission recommended that (all of which they passed):
1. DADS develop progressive sanctions for serious or repeated violations
2. DADS repeal the “right to correct” provision
3. Make the penalties more expensive

DADS needs to do a better job managing contracts
DADS oversees about 4300 contracts worth about 2.3 billion dollars. The Commission’s report notes that DADS has a fragmented and inefficient approach to managing contracts. For example, DADS has 11 agency divisions that oversee contracts. This disorganization leads to delays and cost overruns that could have been prevented. The Commission basically directed DADS to restructure its contract management to centralize it, standardize it, and become more intentional about monitoring contracts (all of which were ultimately passed by the Commission).

All of the above issues relate back to the idea of ultimately closing the SSLCs. If the SSLCs are closed down, or if some are closed, then the people residing there (or the people who may reside there one day) need to go somewhere to have their needs met. These places need to be able to provide the services they need, in a safe environment. All of this is going to require some pretty serious changes on DADS’ part.